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Gogaku

All N3 grammar

N3

〜とか

Apparently, or so I hear (vague hearsay)machine translation

FormationPlain form + とか (placed at the end of the sentence)

〜とか placed at the END of a sentence expresses a vague rumor the speaker isn't sure about and doesn't want to take responsibility for: 田中さん、来月結婚するとか (apparently Mr. Tanaka is getting married next month, or so I hear). The sentence often trails off right after とか, creating the feeling of "that's just what I vaguely heard."

Formation: plain form + とか. You can also say it more fully as とか聞きました (I heard something to the effect that…). This is colloquial language, suited to everyday small talk.

Don't confuse it with the listing とか you've already learned (すしとかてんぷらとか) — there とか stands between nouns to give examples; in this pattern とか closes off the whole sentence to pass along news. On the hearsay scale: hearsay 〜そうです relays information with a fairly clear source, 〜ということだ is formal and verbatim, while 〜とか is the vaguest — something half-heard somewhere, possibly without even remembering from whom.

Examples

Related patterns

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